Travel again...

Will be jetting off to Jakarta, Indonesia at 4pm today to attend



























Will be back on Monday about 3.30pm..

The Displacement of Reason

This is an amazing article written by Alex Au, owner of Yawning Bread (http://www.yawningbread.org/) for a forum titled "A Christian response to same-sex attraction"

Fantastic article and very thought-provoking argument...

http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2008/yax-888.htm

Random

Am sitting here at Starbucks with 4 of my MC VP elects...

they're discussing their session for national planning...

and I'm sitting here feeling nolstagic, highly amused.. and well just reflective :)

Random post

You are the World

Completion, Good Reward.

The World is the final card of the Major Arcana, and as such represents saturnian energies, time, and completion.

The World card pictures a dancer in a Yoni (sometimes made of laurel leaves). The Yoni symbolizes the great Mother, the cervix through which everything is born, and also the doorway to the next life after death. It is indicative of a complete circle. Everything is finally coming together, successfully and at last. You will get that Ph.D. you've been working for years to complete, graduate at long last, marry after a long engagement, or finish that huge project. This card is not for little ends, but for big ones, important ones, ones that come with well earned cheers and acknowledgements. Your hard work, knowledge, wisdom, patience, etc, will absolutely pay-off; you've done everything right.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

The power of delegation...

Martial Arts Expert

Thank You...

I am alive!

Here's another quick update, considering that the last one with slightly more content was done in early March..

So yes I am doing well as always... since IPM in Macedonia, followed by the short trips to Bulgaria and Turkey, I've visited Japan as well to facilitate at the Asia Pacific Exchange Leadership Development Seminar, a 1 week conference for Asia Pacific... (I had 1 week in Singapore from the previous trip before jetting off again) it was a great experience seeing highly motivated and very fresh members from all over AP, and also experiencing the diversity and professionalism of like 12 other facilitators from around the world.. not to mention the 5 days we spent in Tokyo after the conference... highlights include Disney Tokyo, Kamakura, lots of walking, lots of sushi and lots of photos :)

Getting back in end March saw crazy preparation for the AIESEC Symposium 2008, that we were proud to be hosting together with AIESEC International. with 60 corporate representatives and 30 AIESEC youths from Asia Pacific, we convened in the Fullerton Hotel for a day of speeches, sharing, discussions and networking around the topic of Youth Talent: Leadership and Innovation.... really enjoyed myself... such an eye-opening and fulfilling experience...

after that, it was great times with Shirley who was in Singapore on country visit... I think the elects were really challenged and have emerged wiser and more motivated... it was crazy social times too with what felt like the world visiting Singapore... Cyrus from HK, Sandy and James from Malaysia, Won from Korea, Aman and Rishabh from AIESEC International, Fish from China, then Pui from Thailand, Yuichi from Japan... fun times :)

so yeah.. here's the update thus far... will be in conference from tomorrow onwards till 11th May... Am chairing the EVOLVE Conference (5 days, 120 delegates of which 105 are foreign, lots of external particitation)... after that, will be leaving for Guang Zhou for Asia Pacific Member Committee Transition Camp 2008 from 20th May till probably end of the month...

stay tuned!

Hail all moms in the world!

Life is a gift - some really powerful stuff

Quick Update

Just so you know, I am alive and well...

currently writing this from the airport in Istanbul...

this has been quite an intense travel experience...

from Singapore to Istanbul to Skopje to Ohrid,

and the Ohrid to Sofia (Bulgaria) - 8 hours plus of bus
Sofia to Istanbul - 10 hours of bus
Istanbul to Dubai - 4 hours flight
Dubai stopover - 8 hours
Dubai to Jakarta for quick stop and then Singapore...

Looking forward to home :)

more updates maybe in April...

Next stop... Leaving for Japan on 13th March!!!

The sequel to that

I love my team :)

AIESEC Singapore MC 2007/2008

AIESEC Singapore 2007/2008
"Powering Forward"

(from left to right: Alvin Hong - LCP NTU, Tiang Ker Ying - MC Honorary General Secretary, Shubhangi Faujdar - LCP NUS, Mohamad Imran - MC Vice President External Relations, Sharon Tan - President, Visayon Viravong - MC Vice President Finance, Cheryl Chen - Branding and Communications Coordinator, Pamela Su - LCP SMU, Mayas Singh - MC Director of Programmes Outgoing Exchange, William Yang - Global Exchange Partnerships Coordinator)

my latest love...

The Sony VAIO SZ433N
Click HERE for a 3D view...

Dilbert and Information Systems

I love Dilbert :)

Good post

I read this on Nicholas' blog... very meaningful!

The Key to Escaping Toxic Motivation

Motivation can be split up between two different categories. The first is passionate motivation, this comes from craving to do something. The second is wealth motivation. Wealth motivation is craving to have something. The differences between the two may be subtle, but the impact is tremendous. One builds enthusiasm, while the other can be completely toxic.

The difference between these two drives is almost completely hidden. You can’t usually make a distinction from a written goal or mission statement. But the results are far apart. Passionately motivated people can easily overcome stress, pain and obstacles. Wealth motivated people are often frustrated, impatient and depressed at the slightest failure.

Wealth Motivation is Toxic

What is wealth motivation? It isn’t specifically being motivated by money. It simply means being motivated by outcomes over process. Wanting to be rich instead of being interested in earning money. Wanting a relationship instead of being interested in other people. Wanting a healthy body rather than being interested in healthy eating and exercise.

Wealth motivation isn’t, in itself, a bad thing. The problem is when it is used to disguise a lack of passionate motivation. When you aren’t intensely interested in the process, getting to the goal is going to be painful.

The best way to tell which type of motivation fuels you is to look at your goals and the pursuits required to reach them. Which draws you in more? Are you more interested in school or the degree? Are you more interested in running a business or being a successful businessperson?

Toxic Motivation Doesn’t Last

Wealth motivation might get you started, but it can’t finish the marathon. Every successful person I know got to where they are because they had at least some level of passionate motivation. Of the extremely successful people I know, passionate motivation is almost so high that it can often be hard to discern exactly what their external goals even are.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Would you keep doing it even if eventual success was impossible?
• Would you keep doing it even if you couldn’t enjoy the rewards?
• Would you keep doing it even if failure was almost guaranteed?

How to Replace Toxic Drive With Enthusiasm

Just let go. The toxicity of your drive happens because you clutch onto it. The result has become so important to you that your willing to put up with the frustration, poison and pain that you have to go through to reach it. The first step (although certainly not the last) is simply to let go of this old drive.

When I used to run in track, our coach would explain that if you run up a hill lactic acids can build in your legs. It’s important to jog out the muscles a short time so that they won’t build up and cause problems later. I think sometimes the only way to get rid of a toxic drive is simply to jog it out. Get detached for awhile so you can begin fresh.

Win-Win or No Deal

Once you’ve detached from your goal, the only way you can create a healthy drive is to force an ultimatum. Either commit to finding a way to be wildly interested in the process AND the goal, or walk away from that area until you do.

Here are some applications you might want to use:

• Health - Don’t force yourself to get thin unless you can find an exercise, diet or health philosophy that you can become enthusiastic about.
• Money - Don’t try to earn more money unless you can find a process for making money that fascinates you.
• Work - Don’t do work that doesn’t make you passionate. If you can’t find passionate work do the bare minimum to survive and move up until you can find passionate work. Money can’t buy your soul.
• Relationships - Don’t force yourself to date, meet people or attract without becoming interested in other people.

Enthusiasm Hurts!

Passionate motivation doesn’t mean that everything you do should be easy or painless. Many of the things I love involve a lot of pain, challenge or scare the hell out of me. The point isn’t to have a pain free, relaxing stroll but to be involved in a process you are fascinated by and care about.

I’m not interested in being rich. I live a comfortable lifestyle and I could live on a minimum wage salary. Being a millionaire doesn’t motivate me. But the process of owning a business, investing, selling products and earning money does. I’m interested in becoming a millionaire, not being one.

Being interested isn’t the same as expecting ease. In fact, I probably wouldn’t be interested if I thought it were easy. It is because I expect it to be challenging that creates the drive.

A Drive for the Game

When you play a game, you are driven out of the fun of the play. The spirit of the game is what makes it worth playing, even if your goal is to win. In life you can also have strict goals, deadlines and objective results. But if you aren’t playing for a love of the game, you might as well quit because you aren’t playing at all.

Germs on my keyboard!! :)

1,617,840How Many Germs Live On Your Keyboard?

Happiness...

is fighting for Ice Cream with the team you love...

thanks for a great meeting, great dinner and great dessert session that day!!

What a Diwali that lights up my world!

Burn

turned on the radio to hear this song playing... for some reason it just seemed to speak to me...

in thoughtful mood these days...

--------------------------------------
Burn
by Tina Arena

Do you wanna be a poet and write
Do you wanna be an actor up in lights
Do you wanna be a soldier and fight for love
Do you wanna travel the world
Do you wanna be a diver for pearls
Or climb a mountain and touch the clouds above
Be anyone you want to be
Bring to life your fantasies
But I want something in return
I want you to burn, burn for me baby
Like a candle in my night
Oh burn
Burn for me
Burn for me
Are you gonna be a gambler and deal
Are you gonna be a doctor and heal
Or go to heaven and touch God's face
Are you gonna be a dreamer who sleeps
Are you gonna be a sinner who weeps
Or an angel
Under grace
Ill lay down on your bed of coals
Offer up my heart and soul
But in return
I want you to burn
Burn for me baby
Like a candle in my night
Oh burn burn for me burn for me
Yeah
Ooh
I want you to burn baby ooh
Laugh for me
Cry for me
Pray for me
Lie for me
Live for me
Die for me
I want you to burn
Burn for me baby
Like a candle in my night
Oh burn burn for me burn for me
Yeah
Ah yeah
I want you to burn
I want you to burn for me baby
Ohh yeah

I'm alive!

wow it's almost been 3 weeks since my last posting... so here's what's been happening since Oct 8, 2007

Charity Change Challenge 2007
The effort from the BEADS team paid off in their Charity Change Challenge on 11th October 2007, as they set the record in Singapore for the longest chain of coins. The event was aimed at raising awareness and funds around HIV/AIDS, a pertinent but under-exposed issue in Singapore that AIESEC has chosen to address. Good job to the team for this record!

AP HEROES Conference 2007
The 2nd HEROES Conference in history of Asia Pacific Growth Network, and now a formal and official GN conference! Also my first time facilitating at an actual AP conference :)
Heroes was from 18th to 21st October, and GN board was in KL, Malaysia since 15th Oct for meetings and preparation... Heroes prep took up quite a big chunk of time as well since my last blog update.. but it was a great experience... totally loved it!

hmm seems that aside from those 2 big events, I've just pretty much been busy with meetings and other usual AIESEC work stuff...

Some things that have been keeping me happy include:
- Conclusion of the ICX Killer Cup weeks, with lots of sales activity going on in the LCs, and which has translated into lots more raises!
- all in all, lots more results flowing in, and lots more on their way to come!
- Taekwondo training has been good... after finishing with grading, now the focus is around physical training and practising fundamentals of the different kicks... so far we have done a lot more legwork and even sparring... lots to learn still but totally enjoying it...

and yeah that's it for now.. I am starting to think my AIESEC journey posting will only be out in Dec, after NLDS cos that's the next break for now!